We Don’t Understand How Walmart Oil Changes Keep Going Terribly Awry, But Here We Are

There’s something afoot in the oil at Walmart. Or least that’s what one could believe as we hear yet another story of your average customer bringing in a vehicle for an oil change at the store and leaving with a headache-inducing damaged car situation.

It seems so simple: Car needs new oil. Bring car to place that has oil and people who know how to change it. Drive away in said car. But if we’ve learned anything, it’s that there’s always room for a disaster. This time it’s a woman who was stranded at Walmart after an oil change rendered her car undriveable.

A South Carolina woman brought her car in for an oil change, but instead her car was “heavily damaged” after going through the garage door and hitting a guardrail, reports WLTX.com.

“It was time to get my oil changed anyway, my oil light came on, so I took it on in to Walmart. 10,15 minutes later they’re calling me to come back,” she said at the time. “The manager walked in and he’s like, ‘I really don’t know how to tell you this,’ he said ‘But, one of our techs has just crashed your car through the bay door and ultimately into the guardrail behind the store.”

That left her without a car, a situation that is extra complicated due to the fact that she has kids she needs to get to school. She couldn’t afford a rental car, either.

“Not having a vehicle here and knowing you need to go somewhere, I felt helpless,” she explains, adding that she felt Walmart had basically washed their hands of her. Getting her insurance company to talk to them was like “pulling teeth.”

But since her story first hit the news, a local auto shop that sold her the car has been “absolutely wonderful.”

“They are in the process of trying to find a vehicle for me, they have given me a loaner car that I could drive today, so I could get the kids to school. They’ve gone above and beyond,” she said.

When the local station got involved and called the insurance company as well as Walmart corporate, the news is even better.

“They had left me voicemails stating that I would be approved for a rental car for three days until they can get an adjuster out to look at the car, so I’m just ecstatic,” she said.

Which again, is all well and good — but what is going on in the oil change department? Is it haunted by the ghost of a vengeful mechanic?

Woman Gets Rental Car After Walmart Employee Crashes Her Car [WLTX.com]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.